Organization and Activity of the Soviet Convoy Guard in the Early 1950s

The article is devoted to the analysis of problems related to the organization and activities of the convoy guards of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR in the early 1950s. The chronological framework of the study is determined by the dates of the reorganization of convoy troops into convoy guards, as well as the unification of internal guards and convoy guards into a single military formation – internal and convoy guards of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR. Purpose: summarizing the experience of the convoy guard in the period under study, to supplement and correct the ideas developed in the history of domestic internal affairs bodies and the penitentiary system in particular. Methods: the article is prepared with the help of general scientific and historical research methods. The methods of materialistic dialectics, chronological, comparative, system analysis, statistical, etc. are also used. Archival materials of the Convoy Guard Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR, most of which are first introduced into scientific circulation, help generalize the escorting experience. Results: the analysis of the regulation and practice of convoy guards of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR shows that the period under consideration was characterized by further improvement of the organization and activities of its units. In turn, this ensured implementation of crucial tasks to ensure activities of internal affairs bodies, state security and justice. Activities of the convoy guard leadership aimed at strengthening discipline, service and political training of personnel were of great importance. Conclusion: having the purpose of escorting prisoners, the convoy guard focused on servicing the bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of State Security, the Ministry of Justice and the Prosecutor’s Office of the USSR. Thus, it ensured their work in matters of state security of the Soviet Union, fight against crime, as well as isolation of persons who violated Soviet laws. The main task of the convoy guard during the study period was to prevent escapes of the escorted contingents and at the same time to ensure the maintenance regime established for them.